There won’t be jackhammering or alarming beeps from large trucks backing up, but neighbors of Ala Moana Center will be subjected to some nighttime construction noise as the state’s biggest mall grows even bigger.

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. recently received a state noise variance allowing four types of work in the evening or overnight as part of adding a new wing and more parking to the mall despite objections from many residents in nearby condominium towers.

The state Department of Health granted the variance last month after two community meetings that elicited heavy opposition from neighbors who for several months have already endured loud construction noise during the day.

"The din throughout the day is just intolerable,"said Patricia Saunders, a resident in the 1350 Ala Moana building across Piikoi Street from the mall. "Maybe it won’t be as bad at night, but they can’t offer us any assurances of that."

Construction noise variances that permit work at night are not common for large, long-term projects outside of public improvement jobs such as road and utility improvements.

James Toma, Noise Section supervisor for the Health Department’s Indoor and Radiological Health Branch, said 40 to 50 such variances are issued a year mostly for road public improvement works.

Hawaiian Dredging said in its variance application that allowing night work would be in the public interest given the economic impact generated by shopping at the mall owned by General Growth Properties Inc.

"The project will add more retail space and commensurate parking space to the most popular shopping attraction in the state of Hawaii, thus contributing to and sustaining and enhancing the local economy,"the application said.

Safety concerns also were cited as a reason for allowing limited after-hours construction at the mall.

The expansion at the mall’s Ewa end includes adding five more levels of parking on top of an existing four-story structure parallel to Kona Street, and adding 650,000 square feet of new retail space that will include the first Bloomingdale’s in Hawaii and a site to relocate Nordstrom. The $572 million project broke ground about a year ago and is expected to be completed by November 2015.

About 175 residents at 1350 Ala Moana and Uraku Tower signed petitions opposing construction work outside the normal time frame permitted by the state, which is weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Some of the opposition to the variance may have been from the way Hawaiian Dredging filled out an initial application in July 2013 that included a long list of heavy or loud equipment to be used, including jackhammers, concrete saws, bulldozers, excavators, tractor-trailers, a drill rig, nail guns, drills, pressure washers and radios.

Boyd Marumoto, Hawaiian Dredging senior construction manager, said the application was misinterpreted and filled out incorrectly as to the equipment list.

"It’s not for the really noisy stuff like demolition or jackhammering,"he said.

General Growth said in response to questions at an initial community meeting in October that jackhammers and other heavy impact tools may not be used under the variance. Mall officials told meeting attendees that the loudest equipment to be used after normal hours would be generators that are about as loud as a passing city bus.

Still, many neighbors objected. "It is unethical for their aggressive business plan to be done at the expense of significant physical suffering of nearby residents, which will happen with all-night work,"Uraku resident Kaethe Kauffman said in written testimony submitted to the Health Department.

George Okamura, a local attorney representing the association of apartment owners in the Uraku tower facing Kona Street, said in a letter that residents aren’t against the mall’s expansion, but are concerned about sleep loss from nighttime construction.

Initially, Hawaiian Dredging applied to do overnight work Monday through Saturday, and in August 2013 amended its application to allow work all day on Sundays and holidays.

The contractor amended its variance application after the October community meeting, and after a second community meeting in April, the Health Department approved a variance with conditions and restrictions.

Under the variance, four types of work are allowed after normal hours:

>> Concrete slab work. This work may extend an extra two hours on weekdays, till 8 p.m., to allow for equipment failures or delivery delays.

>> Replacing a steel and glass canopy that used to separate a Sears store demolished to make room for the expansion. This work is permitted any time overnight on most weekdays, though Marumoto said 20 nights total should finish the job, which includes work above an existing store that cannot be done while the store is open.

>> Utility connections. This work is permitted any time overnight on most weekdays, and includes cutting pipes and disconnecting power to the mall to make new connections that would disturb normal mall operations during the day. General Growth said the work, which will include sound-muffling blankets or other sound barriers, should be about as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

>> Groundwater pumping. This work is permitted generally around the clock every day, and involves removing water from below the surface so that foundation work can be done during normal hours. General Growth said this work also should be about as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

One request for sewer line work was rejected, and Hawaiian Dredging has already completed the work.

The variance requires Hawaiian Dredging to notify neighboring residents when after-hours work will be done, prohibits vehicle reverse signal alarms from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. and requires the contractor to measure and report noise levels during the variance hours to the Health Department.

"The applicant shall make every effort to minimize noise emanating from the project,"the variance approval said.

Hawaiian Dredging, which maintains a complaint hotline at 735-7458, is also required to promptly respond to noise complaints.

Toma, the Noise Section supervisor, said if numerous complaints are received, the department will investigate and could revoke the variance if warranted.